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Formation
Formations are a specialty of the Kel military, which arrays ships and infantry into precise geometrical formations to produce exotic attacks and defenses. Formations are used in Ninefox Gambit, Raven Stratagem, Revenant Gun, and the short stories The Battle of Candle Arc and Extracurricular Activities, and are mentioned in Calendrical Rot. Overview Formations, used in the heptarchate, hexarchate, and surrounding realms, rely on the topography of their native calendars to channel exotic effects. Under the high calendar and subsequently the revised calendar, the Kel channel defensive and offensive effects by combining formation geometry with Kel discipline. Thousands of formations are listed in the lexicons of the Kel infantry library.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1 Formations may also interfere with scans, obscuring or maximizing the apparent size of a swarm.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 7,8 Formation instinct makes it difficult for more brittle Kel to use heretical formations, even under tactical and calendrical conditions that require them.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1,13 Outprocessed Kel lose their formation instinct and can no longer channel formation effects.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2 Without the necessary indoctrination, most heretics are unable to channel formations.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1,16 However, some foreign calendars allow their own analogues for formations,Raven Stratagem, Chapter 6 and some heretical weapons, such as amputation guns, are deployed in formation.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 16 Formation simulators stored on mothgrids, usually managed by Doctrine officers, carry baseline assumptions and conditions for simulating formations.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 15 Formation geometry Formation geometry, a type of mathematics taught at Kel Academy, covers the mathematical underpinnings of formations, including coefficients and formation keys used to modulate within a specific class of formations or under a specific calendar.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 13 A skeleton formation is comprised of the fewest possible individuals able to construct the formation's geometry. As numbers decrease, the number of formation keys and size of available formations decrease.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 21 Modulation To reduce the time taken to modulate from one formation to the next, or to modulate subformations to activate exotic effects, the Kel use drills to practice formations and transitions,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1 refusing the primary pivots to prevent their effects from activating. Formations may also allow vulnerabilities in certain pivots to allow for speedy modulation.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 8 Subformations Subformations, or component formations, are formations whose geometries are part of a larger formation. Subformations can be modulated within the greater formation to produce exotic weapons such as kinetic lancesRaven Stratgem, Chapter 6 and the traitor's lance. Formation neutrality Servitors are formation-neutral under the high calendar,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1 contributing negligible effects to formation geometry. This is not necessarily the case under other calendars.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 15 History The Kel discovered formations early in the heptarchate's history. The first formation they discovered was a suicide formation, a fact which colored Kel use of formations throughout their history.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 23 The hexarchate instituted formation instinct to control soldiers' state of mind, making it compulsory to maintain both formations and Kel hierarchy. Although Kel discipline allowed use of formations before formation instinct was devised, Kel dependency on formation instinct led to a pervasive myth that the Kel could not operate without it. The Kel under the revised calendar challenged this myth and proved that Kel could serve voluntarily with enough discipline to channel formation effects. Kel Formations Lexicon Primary Around 100 formations are taught in Lexicon Primary. Lexicon Secondary * Six Towers Six Banners Unknown lexicon * First Formation * One Thorn Poisons a Thousand Hands * Pir's Fan * Rising Tiger * Thunder of Horses Shield Formations Shield formations have short windows of effectiveness.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 9 The Nirai have not been able to discover shield formations whose effects last longer than a few minutes,Revenant Gun, Chapter 31 and fading formation shields weaken and leave the formation vulnerable.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 22 These largely short-lived shield effects are regenerated or compensated for by swift modulation between shield formations,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 9 usually in a sequence of two or three.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 19 Under fire, formation shields may radiate visible effects, depending on formation and weaponry involved.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 9 The gaps in protection left by shield modulation can be exploited to slip fast-moving small vesselsRaven Stratagem, Chapter 22 or projectiles through. Grand Formations Many citizens may recognize grand formation from their frequent use in dramas.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 10 * Carrion Strike * Glory of Roses * Skyfall Proscribed Formations * Pyre Burns Inward Hafn Formations Petal/Dish Formations Funnel Formation Traitor's Lance Trivia * Kel Naraucher drilled a grand formation for a parade, but it did not end up being used.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 18 * The null swarm used heretical grand formations during the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 17,18 References Category:Formations Category:Hexarchate Category:Heptarchate Category:Stubs